Das, Dilip K., 1941- (2007) South Asian free trade agreement: prospects of shallow regional integration. Working Paper. University of Warwick. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation, Coventry.

Preview

PDF WRAP_Das_wp21807.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (151Kb)

Abstract

This paper essentially focuses on the belated regionalization attempts of the South Asian economies and myriad of problems that are coming in their way to forming a smoothly functioning free trade area and regional integration agreement. Notwithstanding their efforts, progress so far has been tardy. Although South Asian economies took several liberalization measures during the 1990-2005 period, this group of economies was the most highly protected group in the global economy in 2005. It lagged behind in opening its domestic economy to global competition as well as in attracting FDI. Furthermore, evidence of trade complementarity in South Asian economies is mixed so far, which made creation of an FTA a weak proposition. However, this paper recommends that despite lack of success, South Asian economies should continue their endeavors to regionalize. At present, these economies are at a low level of per capita income and economic development. As they move up their respective growth trajectories, they are likely to develop complementaries. If these economies continue to grapple with their current hurdles to regionalization, in the medium-term South Asian economies stand to gain in welfare terms even if they succeed in shallow regional integration.

Item Type:	Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Free trade -- South Asia, Globalization -- Economic aspects, Regionalism -- South Asia, South Asia -- Economic integration, South Asia -- Economic conditions
Series Name:	Working papers (University of Warwick. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation)
Publisher:	University of Warwick. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation
Place of Publication:	Coventry
Date:	February 2007
Number:	No.218
Number of Pages:	36
Status:	Not Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
References:	Bandara, J.S. and W. Yu.2003. “How Desirable is the South Asian Free Trade Area? A Quantitative Economic Assessment” in D. Greenaway (ed) The World Economy: Global Trade Policy. Oxford. UK. Blackwell Publishers. Baysan, T., A. Panagariya and N. Pitigala.2006.”Preferential Trading in South Asia”. Washington DC. The World Bank. Policy Research Working paper 3813. January. Bourgignon, F.1999. “Absolute Poverty, Relative Deprivation and Social Exclusion”. Paper presented at the workshop on the World Development Report, organized by the Deutsche Stiftung fur Internationale Entwicklung, Berlin, Germany, during February 2-3. Chen, S. and M. Ravallion. 2004. “How Have the World’s Poorest Fared since the early 1980s?” Washington DC. The World Bank. Policy Research Working Paper No. 3341. June. Das, Dilip K. 2007.The Evolving Global Trade Architecture. Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. Northampton, MA, USA. (forthcoming) Das, Dilip K. 2006. China and India: A Tale of Two Economies. London and New York. Routledge. Das, Dilip K. 2005a. Asian Economy and Finance: A Post-Crisis Perspective. Springer Publications. New York, USA. 2005. Das, Dilip K. 2005b.“Market-Driven Regionalization in Asia” Global Economy Journal. Vol. 5. Issue 3. Article 2. September 2005. The Berkeley Electronic Press. CA. Available on the Internet at http://www.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&context=gej. Dilip K. Das. 2004. Regionalism in Global Trade: Turning Kaleidoscope, Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. Northampton, MA, USA. Dilip K. Das. 2003. The Doha Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations: Causal Issies behind Failure in Cancún. Harvard University. Center for International Development. Cambridge, Mass. USA. Available on the Internet at http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidtrade/site/new.html. October. Devarajan, S. and I. Nabi.2006. “Economic Growth in South Asia: Promising, Unequalizing…Sustaingble?” Washington DC. The World Bank. (mimeo) Eichengreen, B.H. and D. Irwin. 1998. “The Role of History in Bilateral Trade Flows” in J,A. Frankel (ed.) Regionalization of the World Economy. Chicago. University of Chicago Press. pp. 33-64. Feenstra, R. 1998. “Integration of Trade and Disintegration of Production in the Global Economy”. Journal of Economic Perspective. Vol. 12. No. 1. pp. 31-50. Hassan, M.K.2001. “Is SAARC A Viable Economic Bloc? Evidence from the Gravity Model”. Journal of Asian Economics. Vol. 12. No. 2. pp. 263-290. Hirantha, S.W.2004. “From SAPTA to SAFTA: Gravity Analysis of South Asian Free Trade”. Faculty of Management. Nottingham. UK. University of Nottingham. (unpublished manuscript). Katzenstein, P.J. 2000. “Regionalism and Asia”. New Political Economy. Vol. 5. No. 3. pp. 44-62. Krueger, A.O. 2000. “Factors Affecting Export Growth and Performance and the Asian Case.” in Dilip K. Das (ed) Asian Exports. Oxford. UK. Oxford University Press. pp. 25-74. Krueger, A.O. 1980. “Trade Policy as an Input to Development”. American Economic Review. Papers and Proceedings. Vol. 70. No. 4. pp. 288-292. Mayer, J. and A. Wood. 2001. “South Asia’s Export Structure in a Comparative Perspective”. Oxfor Development Studies. Vol. 29. No. 1. pp 5-29. Mukherji, I.N.2005. “Regional Trade Agreement in South Asia”. New Delhi. India. Research and Information System for the Non-Aligned Developing Countries. Discussion paper No. 86. November. Pigato, M., C. Farah, K. Itakura, K. Jun, W. Martin, T.G. Srinivasan.1997. South Asia’s Integration into the World Economy. Washington DC. The World Bank. Pitigala, N.2005. “What Does Regional Trade in South Asia Reveal about Future Trade Liberalization?” Washington DC. The World Bank. Policy Research Working paper No. 3497. February. Poyhonen, P. 1963. “A Tentative for Volume in Trade between Countries”, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv. Heft. 90. No. 1. pp. 91-113. Pursell, G. and N. Pitigala.2001. “Trade Agreements in the South Asia Region”. Washington DC. The World Bank. Sally, R.2006. “FTA and the Prospects for Regional Integration in Asia”. Brussels. Belgium. European Center for International Political Economy. ECIPE Working Paper. No. 01/2006. Sally, R. and R. Sen.2005. “Whither Trade Policies in Southeast Asia? The Wider Asian and Global Context”. ASEAN Economic Bulletin. Vol. 22. No. 1. pp. 92- 114. Tinbergen, J, 1962. Shaping the World Economy, New York. Twentieth Century Fund. The World Bank. 2005. Global Economic Prospects. Washington DC.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1889

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item